Chicago Blackhawks prospect Mikael Hakkarainen will be back playing in the United States Hockey League this season. The 2018 fifth-round draft pick left Providence College after only one game and rejoined the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks on Wednesday.
Friars head coach Nate Leaman told The Providence Journal that “managing classes while playing hockey was not enjoyable for (Hakkarainen).”
The 20-year-old Hakkarainen scored 15 goals and 46 points in 36 games with the Lumberjacks last season. The 6-foot, 194-pound center started his USHL career with the Chicago Steel in 2016 before being traded to Muskegon.